Sometimes, it just happens
by Aldarona Finarfin
Summary: Starts before the War of the Ring...The story of Eomer, furture King of Rohan, and those that are close to him.
1. Of Wet Days and Long Falls

(AN: No, no wait, I don't have anything to say.)

"Yes, both of their parents died."

"Such a terrible tragedy, and at such a young age."

"Eomund was a really decent person, did you ever meet him?"

"No, I never did."

It was a dreary day at Edoras, with large splats of rain sporadically bursting from the sky and then stopping shortly after.  The sun had not peaked through the dark grey clouds in several long, very wet days, and the people were starting to tire of the weather.  Their horses did not mind though; the food they were given was richer now, and quite tasty.  The wind whipped the ankles and backs of the traveling people and the cold bit the noses of those who were not inside wrapped in blankets sitting near a fire.

But no one was complaining about the weather at the moment.  Two young children had just been escorted up into the Golden Halls.  One was a boy; he looked to be about 10.  He was tall, much taller than most his age.  The other was a girl with pale yellow hair; she was younger than the boy.  When they walked up the steps to their new home, neither seemed to notice the pounding rain and the lashing wind, but they looked up in slight awe at the golden walls and high door of their new dwelling place.  They disappeared into the King's hall without a look at the curious faces that were watching them from doors and windows.

They were the young children of Eomund and Theodwyn, now orphaned because of  Orcs.  Their uncle, Theodwyn's older brother, had agreed to let them live in Meduseld, and to raise them with his own son Theodred.  Theodred was then 11 years old, and quite the warrior for such an age.  But he was an only child, and his mother was dead.  Everyone agreed that it would do Theodred good to have someone to share his home with.

In one of the many houses at the base of the hill that Edoras stood upon was a small family.  It was the house of Gamrond, and his wife Haling.  They had one daughter, and she was a hard to control fiery child of 10.  Fengolin is her name, and at this very moment, she is trying to sneak out of her house to get a better look at the new arrivals.

Her parents were wrapped up in a conversation with the neighbor, a nosey lady who liked to gossip about the latest news with anyone that would have her.  Fengolin carefully toed her way across the hall that exposed her to her parent's backs for a few painful seconds, and then she was in her parent's room, where there was a window big enough for her to get out of.  She threw a small cloak over her shoulders and then clamored out into the muddy street directly under the window.  She quickly ran beyond the view of her house, and then stopped.  She quickly walked to another window and stuck her head inside.

"Grimbold, do you want to come with me?" she said to the boy that was sprawled out over his bed.  He looked up at her, boredom traced in every inch of his face.  Grimbold was four years her senior, but the two of them still managed to get along very nicely.  He was strong, and when he wasn't at home, he was off with his father, learning how to defend his country.

"Where are you going?" he asked, sitting up to look better at her.

"Don't you know? There are two new people up at Meduseld, and I want a better look.  Now, are you coming or not?" Grimbold shook his head at her.

"My parents would get angry, they don't want me to get sick." Fengolin laughed at him.

"You're such a baby, we'll only be gone for a few minutes."  Grimbold looked like he was going to say no, but instead said, 'All right, let me get a cloak."  Fengolin climbed into his bedroom while he rummaged around for a cloak, and then his boots.  While he did this, she slowly walked around, picking up small knives and practice swords when she saw one.

"You're lucky your parents let you use these," she said softly.

"Not really," he replied absentmindedly, "I always have to train.  That's all my father wants me to do."  

"Still, at least you can fight if you needed to."  Grimbold shrugged his shoulders and then threw his finally found cloak over his shoulders.  

"All right, let's go."               

They went directly east, past Fengolin's house first.  After they got to the back of Meduseld, they slowly climbed up the steep slope of the hill, frequently slipping down to the bottom and getting mud and grass stains all over their clothes.  When they finally reached the Golden Halls, they were completely wet (the cloaks did nothing), they were muddy and covered with bits of grass, and it was far past a few minutes. 

"Well, here we are," Grimbold said, trying to master his chattering teeth.  "Where now?"  Fengolin looked up to the roof of the building, trying to make her next plan.  Small clouds were appearing momentarily at her lips as she thought, when she finally snapped her thumb.

"I got it! We can look through the rafters above them!" she said, and began dusting the grass off herself.  

"The rafters?" Grimbold repeated, looking slightly skeptical at his friend.

"Mmhmm," she replied, and began towards the side of the Halls, where there were windows.  

The first window they came to opened into a small storage room.  It smelled strongly of hay and had various things inside, mostly items for guests that needed to dine with the King.  The room opened up into the dark rafters above, where children sometimes climbed up to spy on things and complete dares.  The rafters were not the safest place to be.  Fengolin climbed in first, followed by Grimbold.  Fengolin had no problem getting through the window, but Grimbold, who was bigger than she was, had a little trouble.  

"Shh," she whispered to him.  Voices were drifting into the room from above them.  They recognized Theoden King's voice, but no other person was talking.  "Give me a boost then," she said when he was all the way in.  With the added help pf Grimbold, she managed to pull herself up into the creaky rafters.  She quickly crawled away so Grimbold could follow her.

When they were both steady, they slowly made their way into the Hall, where Theoden was sitting with his back to them.  At his feet were a boy and a girl.  "I think that's them," Fengolin barely whispered, and began to shakily climb out farther.  

"Fengolin, no!" Grimbold whispered in the same volume she had, and he quickly followed her.  She stopped when she was level with the King, but off a little to his right.  Grimbold stopped next to her and pulled on her arm.  She shook her head no and tried to get his hand off her arm.  The more she tried, the more he pulled until the beam of wood they were on let out a resounding squeak.

"What was that?" the boy said below them, looking in the opposite corner of the rafters they were in.  

"Nothing, nothing," Theoden replied, "It is just the rafters.  Sometimes they squeak and moan in the wind and bad weather.  You will soon grow accustom to it."  

Grimbold and Fengolin were holding their breaths while the boy looked about, but, by a great stroke of luck, they were not seen.  Grimbold pulled on her arms once more, and this time she nodded.  They slowly turned to leave when the beam gave a great cracking noise, and then they toppled off the beam, fell the respectable distance to the ground, and landed on their backs, the wind knocked out of them.

There was ringing silence.  Fengolin sat up first, shaking her head and rubbing the dust from her eyes.  Grimbold sat up much slower, and more aware of what those around him were doing.  They were all staring at the two children, and now the children were looking at their King, whom they held in a very large amount of reverence. 

"What happened?" Theoden finally asked, regaining his speech from his surprise. 

"We fell," Grimbold offered weakly, not matching the eyes of Theoden.

"Yes, I know that, but why were you in that place?"

"Because," Fengolin answered slowly.

"Because why?"  Grimbold sighed a little.

"Because we wanted to better see them," he answered and looked over his shoulder at the two other children.  "Well, I've seen them now, I'll go!" He stood to leave but was stopped by the King.

"You came in here to gawk at people?"

"You could put it that way," Fengolin said, "Or, you could say that we were exercising our curiosity in a healthy way."  Theoden raised an eyebrow at her, but a small smile had crept onto his face nonetheless.

"I should tell your parents.  It is a miserable cold day today, one where you could easily get sick," Grimbold looked heavily at Fengolin, "and you came and snuck around my Halls."  Grimbold had cast his eyes to the ground, feigning that his feet were the most interesting discovery he had ever made. 

"But, if it was all in the name of curiosity, I guess I will not mention it."  Fengolin's face broke into a surprised smile while a wave of relief very visibly washed over Grimbold.

"May we leave, sir?" he asked, ready to run as soon as he could.

"I believe you wanted to see my niece and nephew first?" he asked and then nodded towards them.  "They are Eowyn and Eomer, and they will be living here now."  Grimbold and Fengolin looked over to the two who were now standing.  

"Hello," Grimbold finally said, a little quietly.  They nodded but said nothing.  Fengolin looked back to Theoden and he nodded.  She elbowed Grimbold and they both ran to the doors, past Eowyn and Eomer.  Grimbold exited quite quickly, but Fengolin lingered just long enough to see them one more time.  Eowyn had already returned her attention to her Uncle, but Eomer was watching her.  With a quick turn, she ran out of the Halls.

"A few minutes she says," Grimbold was saying loudly behind her, "No, that was nigh an hour!  My parents will kill me!"  

"That's if they noticed you were gone," Fengolin replied and ran down the muddy street towards the gates of the city.  Grimbold ran after her.

"You're going the wrong way! I want to go back home!" he said, a sharp whining quality to his voice.

"Then go back home, no one is stopping you," she replied and stopped in the middle of the street.  "No, I think I want to go back home too.  Let's go."  They both turned and jogged off at a leisurely pace towards their homes.  The rain came down harder, and the wind picked up, whistling above the roofs of the houses.


	2. Of Caves and such

The clouds had broken a part the next day, and, though still thick and heavy with rain, parents let their children out for what seemed the like the first time in months.  Small balls were kicked around the streets, long sticks were turned into swords, and the younger girls gathered together to play with their dolls.

"Please mother?" Fengolin asked to her frowning mother.  The woman sighed before answering, "Absolutely not!  You could have gotten sick yesterday! And what of Grimbold?  It is important that he stay healthy for his training.  What would you say if the Wild men came through here, and only Grimbold was left to protect you from death, but he was not properly trained because he was sick as a child?"

"I would say that one little sickness shouldn't do anything to him because he always sick, and then I would say that he wasted the last four years of his training, because he's only fourteen."  With this said, she was told to go straight to her room.

"But mother!" the girl said as she was being pushed to her room, "I just want to go out for an hour! It is not that long!" 

"Not another word Fengolin!  You are not to leave this room until it is dinner time!"  Her door was slammed shut, and an angry Fengolin was left by herself.  

"Dinner will not be here for another six hours!" she said quietly, and then walked across her small room to a wooden chair that sat at the window.  She plopped into it very heavily; it squeaked and moaned beneath the sudden weight.  It was rather unfair of her mother to keep her inside when the first rays of sunlight broke through.  Just because she went out for a little tiny bit yesterday…

Fengolin's thoughts began to stray away from the injustice she was just dealt to the thought of swords, and battle, and adventure.  She eventually rested her head against the wall, and her eyes slowly shut.

She had a broad sword in her hands, and there were Orcs.  The men around her were dead or wounded.  She was tired but she was not ready to give in to these foul creatures.  Her legs were planted firmly, her will was resolute.  The Orc captain opened his mouth to give a command-

"Excuse me?" it said.

"What?" she asked, a bemused expression settling onto her face.

"Are you Fengolin?" Her eyes opened suddenly, golden light filled the room.  A tall soldier stood in her doorway, looking at her.

"Are you Fengolin?" he asked again.

"Oh, yes, yes I am," she said apologetically, and stood up.

"The King requests your presence.  Will you come?"  She took a moment to think to herself, before saying, "Wait, I thought kings command, not request."   She thought she saw a smile flit across his face, but it was gone so quickly that it might have been a passing thought.

"Though they might, he still bid me ask you.  Will you come?"  

"Of course I will, just lead the way."  He nodded and stepped aside, allowing her to pass out of the room first.  She entered the main room of the house where she was attacked by a very large, brown thing.  For a moment, she struggled to get out of its hold, when she realized that it was her mother tying a cloak on her.  

"Mother, how much does this cloak weigh?"  she asked, her head finally breaking free of material.

"Do not complain, I wish that you do not catch cold."  Once her mother was satisfied that her only child was very warm and protected against the harsh winds, she tried to flatten her hair.  "Well, I do not know what you have done to warrant the attention of the King, but you better not be in trouble.  Now, go on," she said, and placed a kiss on her forehead.  With bright pink cheeks, Fengolin left her house and emerged into the puddle-riddled street.  When she emerged, she saw Grimbold leaning against the wall, his face ashy white.

"Grimbold!" she said before she could stop herself.  She knew that she shouldn't have been surprised to see him and that she should have even expected him there, but she could not help herself.  He nodded slightly towards her, but his eyes fell on the tall soldier, and his face whitened more.

The soldier led them away from their homes and towards the Golden Halls at a brisk pace.  There was indeed an icy wind, and Fengolin wrapped her cloak around herself tighter, giving Grimbold a sympathetic look as he only had a very thin cloak on his shoulders. 

"Excuse me sir," she said after a moment of silence while Grimbold pulled on her arm to try to shut her up, "I was just wondering why Theoden King wants to see us, is all."

Without looking back at her, the man answered, "He said something about an incident yesterday, but that is all he spoke of.  I do not know details."  

"Oh, thank you," Fengolin said, and fell back in pace with Grimbold.  She glanced over at him, but his white face was looking at the ground.  She sighed and followed without further questions.

They arrived in the next few following minutes.  The two followed the soldier up the stairs to the Halls, Fengolin a pace and a half in front of Grimbold.  The heavy doors were opened enough for the three to walk into the halls, and then they were closed again.  They walked silently down the length of the hall towards the King.

"Presenting Grimbold and Fengolin," the man said, bowed, and then took his leave, leaving Grimbold and Fengolin alone with Theoden.  

"I am glad to see you both came," Theoden said after a torturous moment of silence.  When they didn't reply, he continued, "As I am sure you remember, yesterday my niece and nephew arrived here to live with my son and me.  Theodred would have taken them about Edoras to see what there is to see, and to meet people their age.  Theodred, however, is out on his first ride with the soldiers, and thus is not able to do so.  I would dearly like to help my niece and nephew become adjusted in Edoras as soon as possible, and I think that you two could handle this task, in place of Theodred."  Theoden relaxed back into his seat, his gaze switching between Fengolin and Grimbold.  

After a moment, Fengolin (who had just realized that Grimbold would not answer him) stepped forward.  "Of course, my lord, it would be an honor for my friend and me." She bowed and stood straight again, and moved back to Grimbold's side.

"Very good," Theoden said, "Frea will be outside with Eomer and Eowyn.  Thank you."  The two nodded, turned, and ran out of the Halls.

It was as Theoden said.  The man that had escorted them to the King was now standing with the two children they met the previous day.  

"Well," Fengolin started awkwardly, "Hello. I am Fengolin, and this is Grimbold."  She offered her hand first to Eomer, who shook it, and then to Eowyn, who also shook it.  The same process was done with Grimbold. 

"I am Eomer, and this is my little sister Eowyn.  It is nice to meet you."  Frea then bowed, and walked back into the Golden Halls.  

"Well, now that he's gone, we can show you guys the really good part of Edoras.  There's a little cave that no one else knows about-"

"Fengolin!" Grimbold broke in. "Did you not just hear the King?  He said to show them around Edoras and introduce them to the others."  Fengolin rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders a little under the weight of the cloak.  

"The others around here are stupid," she said, giving her full attention to Grimbold.  "Besides, we are showing them part of Edoras."  Grimbold raised an eyebrow. 

"You know where that leads."  Fengolin turned to look back at the two silent siblings.  

"Don't listen to him, he's not always so much fun.  Let's go!" Before Grimbold could reply, she had led the other two off.  Without much of a choice, he sighed and followed.

Fengolin led them to a very small opening in the ground, located on the side of the large hill that the Golden Halls rested on.  

"Here it is," she said proudly.  "It looks small, but it's big on the inside."  She untied the cloak she wore and threw it down into the hole, and she promptly followed.  Eomer immediately went next, leaving Eowyn and Grimbold.  

"I do not know," said the golden-haired girl, "If no one else knows about it, perhaps we shouldn't…" Grimbold laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.  

"It is completely safe, don't worry." She looked to say she was not worried about safety, but changed her mind and climbed after her brother, leaving Grimbold to bring up the rear.

Once everyone was in, they could see that it really was quite large.  It stretched for several feet about Grimbold's head, who was the tallest in the group.  It was a large area of many feet where many men could stay.  There were three thin shafts of light illuminating the whole area; it looked as though someone had made them.  To the right of the area was a dark tunnel; no light pierced it.  

"It is called Trahan," Fengolin said softly.  "The passage leads up into the mountains, and out onto a peak.  It is a long journey to take."  

"We think this was built as a haven of sorts for the men that first came to the lands here, who were trying to protect themselves from Orcs," Grimbold added.  The light in the Trahan grew dim as they talked.

"The passage is not lit by the sun, so you must bring fire if you want to go up," Fengolin said, not noticing the light.

"Can we go up?" Eomer asked, marking the first real words he had said to them.  Fengolin smiled in a look of relief.

"Not today.  It is a long journey." Eomer nodded.

"Perhaps next week then."  There was a crash of thunder above them, some what muffled by the ground between them and the outside world.  The hole that led back out was suddenly letting water in; it had begun raining again.

"Oh no," Grimbold said, stepping towards the exit.  "My mother will kill me if I get wet.'  Fengolin looked worried for a moment, but then changed her mind.

"We can just stay here until it passes over then."  She sat down and pulled her cloak over her body.  "We can take a nap; the time will pass quickly that way.  Eowyn shrugged and lay down, pulling her own cloak over her shoulders, and Eomer followed suit.  Grimbold looked ready to say something, but sighed and lay down.

"How will we know when it is over if we are all sleeping?" he asked.  

"When we wake up, it will be time," replied Fengolin.  Grimbold sighed again but said nothing.

Outside the rain came down harder, but it did not threaten to wet their sleeping area, for the ground here was dry and longed for water.  The winds blew harder and the thunder boomed, but the pattern of the rain pulled them one by one to sleep.  


End file.
